


Vibrance

by reapersbarge



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24452065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reapersbarge/pseuds/reapersbarge
Summary: Three years ago she swept out of Ravka and out of his life. With the king's impending marriage, Adrik will have to face Leoni and the life he thought he lost.
Relationships: Leoni Hilli/Adrik Zhabin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Vibrance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zemenipearls (ayaanle)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayaanle/gifts).



> This is a (belated) birthday present for Kai (zemenipearls)! Go check out her work and give her lots of love because her fics are *chef's kiss*

_“I just can’t live here anymore, Adrik.”_

Though the words were said with a small smile, they still cut to the bone. He would know the feeling after all. Leoni swept out of Ravka and out of Adrik’s life three years ago. Every day since she left, he heard her voice repeating her parting words in his ear. _I just can’t live here anymore, Adrik_. Meaning: _I just can’t live_ with you _anymore_.

Tolya tried to convince him to write to her. “Say something– anything. Tell her how much you miss her.”

“It doesn’t matter,” replied Adrik. “She’s gone. She wanted to leave and she has.”

Adrik did what was expected of him; he was a soldier and didn’t have time to mourn the life he thought he had won. The life he thought he had earned. Ravka rebuilt itself with Nikolai and Zoya at the helm. More Grisha were liberated from the horrors of Fjerda. They either went home or to Ravka to try to find some semblance of the word. Adrik found comfort and pride in the work he was doing. Life went on.

Until a letter came to the Triumvirate from Novyi Zem.

_Tsar Nikolai Lantsov,_

_This correspondence is to inform you that Novyi Zem will be accepting your invitation to your upcoming wedding. A delegation of our people will arrive three days prior and stay for five days. Alongside our ambassadors we are sending a former member of the Second Army to serve in a translating position. We expect Leoni Hilli will be treated with the utmost respect._

Tamar had warned her wife of the impending visit, who then warned Adrik. She was coming to Ravka, after she had sworn she’d never step foot on its shores again. She would be on the palace grounds and in the audience of Nikolai and Zoya’s wedding. She would be _here_. Only Nadia’s steadying influence kept Adrik from finding out exactly how much alcohol it would take to get a Grisha drunk. 

Would Leoni speak to him? Or would her eyes pass over him as if he were just another soldier? The nights they had shared quietly in Fjerda haunted him. Adrik heard her laugh around every corner and looked for her in every crowd. Soon she would be here and he would have to see her brilliant smile again. When he fell asleep at night, Adrik traced the shape of Leoni in his mind: her braids flowing down to tickle his nose, her dark curves fitting perfectly in his hand, the ticklish scar on the back of her knee from where she fell out of a tree, her full mouth murmuring his name in his ear. 

On the day of the arrival of the Zemeni contingent, Zoya pointedly informed Adrik he would be part of the Grisha on duty to ensure their ship didn’t fall into the sea. Or something like that. He hadn’t been paying attention. Adrik’s nerves were shot and it was all he could do to keep from bolting out of the palace. 

He took his place in the line of Squallers and Tidemakers standing at attention in the harbor. One by one, Zemenis descended, clothed in the brightest and most colorful patterns Adrik had ever seen. In the weak sunlight, their shining gold bangles and necklaces seemed to glow against the dark brown of their skin. Other Grisha around Adrik murmured exclamations over the ambassadors’ vibrant decorations. The last time he had seen Leoni, she had been wrapped in a grey shawl with a thick, black coat on, the standard spring attire of Ravka. Would he recognize her in the midst of all this color?

Adrik would know that smile anywhere. There she was with her head thrown back in laughter. Her braids were styled differently, thinner and more of them. A riot of orange and green geometric shapes spread down her top to meet the flowing of her skirt. Leoni was even more beautiful and vibrant than she had been when he last saw her. Now, he knew, she would never look at him. 

He moved to duck out of the line of Grisha and backed straight into Tolya. His dark eyes glared down at Adrik, silently calling him out for his cowardice. In the shuffle, his problem was solved for him, as Leoni disappeared with the ambassadors into the palace. 

“You are going to talk to Leoni,” said Tolya. “Even if I have to lock both of you in a room together.” 

Because the Saints were out to get him, Adrik found himself seated at the same table as Leoni that night at dinner. She had yet to arrive, but the place card bearing her name stared up at him. He threw back a glass of alcohol from a passing server and waited. It wasn’t long before she entered the large dining room.

Her gown was a deep purple. A nod, he thought, to the color of the Fabrikator kefta she had worn. That was where the similarities ended, though. The sleeveless bodice cut off below her bust, leaving a dark gap of skin before the skirt started. When Leoni turned to speak with David, Adrik resisted banging his head against the table. The top left her back completely exposed. 

He busied himself with the silverware in front of him. He could do this. He could small talk and sit there across a table from her and not make a fool of himself. It was the only option.

“Adrik!” called David. “Come show Leoni your new arm.”

Begrudgingly he stood, drawing the sleeve of his kefta away from the metal of his hand. It was a fantastic piece of machinery and had served him well in the two years he had worn it. When he reached the little group, Leoni’s eyes sought his face eagerly. 

“Adrik,” she breathed. 

His arm, the real one and not the metal contraption, ached to hold her. Damn everyone around them and damn what he was supposed to be doing. The distance between them held him back.

“Leoni. How are you?” he asked. 

Neither of them noticed when David slipped away.

She smiled slightly, dark eyes glancing over his form. “Better. I’m glad I came with.” 

“Oh?”

Leoni bit down on her bottom lip. Her hands, usually so alive in conversation, grasped at the fabric of her skirt. Adrik wanted to untangle her fingers from the purple cloth. _You only do that when you’re nervous_ , he thought.

“I wanted to see you,” she blurted out. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left.“

The words hit him in the chest. 

Cautiously, Adrik moved to hook one finger around one of hers. “I missed you. It felt like half of me was cut away when you left. The world lost all its color for me. I couldn’t–”

Then Leoni was in his arms. The scent of sunlight and flowers he had no name for filled his senses. Her voice mumbled into his chest how this wasn’t going to work and that they lived an ocean apart and what the _hell_ had he done to his hair? Adrik pressed a kiss to her forehead as his eyes found a grinning Tolya. 

She stretched up to kiss him on the mouth. There it was– the life that had been missing from his existence. He gave in to her completely, tugging her closer against his chest. Someone whistled in the background, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

They pulled away, both a bit breathless and smiling. 

“We will make this work,” said Adrik. “I will follow you to the end of the world if I have to. Letting you walk away was the stupidest decision I’ve ever made.” 

Leoni reached up to brush at his wayward bangs. “It’s only beaten out by this haircut you’ve got.” 

A laugh forced its way out of his mouth, much to the surprise of their gathered audience. He pushed a bit of air at the crowd until they wandered away. A bell rang to signify dinner was about to begin. Adrik held on to her a bit tighter, stealing another kiss.

“Together I think we can do anything,” whispered Leoni, her forehead pressed to his. 

“Even figure out a life?” he asked. 

Her hand laid itself flat against the beating of his heart. “Even that.” 


End file.
